Suffolk brewery accused of cultural vandalism after scrapping more than 200 traditional pub signs

One of Britain's biggest brewing companies, which is based in Suffolk, has today been accused of cultural vandalism after scrapping more than 200 traditional pub signs.

For centuries pubs have proudly displayed a painted sign that represented their name - The Red Lion, The Kings Head, The Crown or The Bell.

But now that heritage is under threat - as Greene King from Bury St Edmunds continues to swap familiar inn signs for printed boards and giant advertising signs critics claim belong on a garage forecourt or outside a supermarket.

The move by Greene King to re-brand 200 of their pubs has angered beer lovers, historians and the group set up to protect the nation's vanishing signs.

The brewers say they are committed to rolling out a programme giving pubs a "facelift" and offering a new menu together with new signs.

Gone are artists' interpretations of the Crab & Winkle, The Ewe and Lamb, the Man on the Moon and the Cricketers, much to the sadness of the Inn Sign Society.

In Greene King's home town of Bury St Edmunds, protesters are already lobbying to halt the changes.

Former Mayor of Bury Mike Ames, whose own local has lost its distinctive Dog and Partridge sign, is furious at the re-branding

The pub is next door to the brewery and Mr Ames said:

Chairman of the Bury Society Alan Jary said: "This is a real disappointment - English pub signs are a great part of our heritage like thatched roofs.

"It is becoming very characterless - anyone could have designed the new signs and they show no imagination or artistic skill."

At the town's Spread Eagle the traditional sign of a bird of prey with outstretched wings has been replaced by a seven-foot tall floodlit "tombstone" with the words "Spread Eagle" written on in gold-coloured capital letters.

Geoff White, from Saxmundham, said:"We are in danger of losing an important part of our heritage and it is retrograde step.

"Yet it would seem there is little anyone can do to stop a pub company changing the name of an inn from "The Rose and Crown" to "The Rat and Handbag".

"We owe a debt to our cultural history and pub signs are a vital part of that history.

"To replace pictorial signs with unimaginative signs is a retrograde step - especially for a brewery that dates back to 1799."

Councillors decided that the proposed alteration would "damage the historic character of the Grade Two listed building."

Local campaigner, music teacher Carolyn King said:"The majority of older pubs traditionally have a pictorial representation of their name displayed outside.

"Having a picture makes a pub easier to identify, maintains its identity and encourages people to go back."

Oxford CAMRA spokesman Steve Green who lives in Abingdon said:"We think it is ill-advised to take away these traditional pub signs - it's a branding exercise."

A spokeswoman for Greene King that operates 2,300 pubs, restaurants and hotels across England, Wales and Scotland, said:

The tradition of pub signs in Britain is believed to date back to Roman times when most people were illiterate and a wreath of vines on a pole was recognised as a symbol of a hostelry - many early establishments were called The Bush or The Bunch of Grapes.